Reuters — The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced U.S. President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage. The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed […] Read more

California rainstorms fade as death toll reaches 20
Drought to remain an issue for much of state

California picks up debris from latest storm, braces for next
Also: Why all this rain won't end California's drought
Sacramento | Reuters — Rain-soaked Californians took advantage of a break in a weeks-long deluge to haul away dead trees, restore downed power lines and prepare new stacks of sandbags before another series of storms hits the state beginning Friday. In Monterey County along the state’s central coast, communities near the still-rising Salinas River were […] Read more

Last year tied as world’s fifth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say
Global CO2 emissions continue to rise
Brussels | Reuters — Last year was the world’s joint fifth-warmest on record and the last nine years were the nine warmest since pre-industrial times, putting the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to 1.5 C in serious jeopardy, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. Last year tied with 2015 as the fifth-warmest year […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans end higher with South America in focus
Wheat even; supplies from Black Sea region weigh against U.S. cold snap
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures added on Tuesday as traders watched South American weather, though prices could not break above resistance around US$15 a bushel. “We’re at a key level that’s stopped this market several times,” said Kristi Van Ahn-Kjeseth, chief operating officer at consulting firm Van Ahn and Co. “You get to […] Read more

U.S. grains: Rains in drought-hit Argentina pressure CBOT futures
Recession fears add pressure to markets, analysts say
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade grain and soybean futures slid on Monday after beneficial rains hit Argentina’s drought-stricken agricultural zone, analysts said. Argentina is the world’s leading exporter of processed soy, but its usually green Pampas plains have been hit by a historic drought that is preventing many farmers from planting their […] Read more

Feed weekly outlook: Barley, wheat prices pull back
Truck shortage 'hasn't gotten any better'
MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat are coming down on the Prairies, said Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton — and a big part of that trend is the lack of demand for either commodity. “Buyers are fairly well covered. There seems to be a lack of desire for buyers to […] Read more

CBOT weekly outlook: South America’s dry weather affecting soy complex
'We’re back to trading weather right now'
MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) report last week is taking a back seat to drought concerns in South America, according to a Chicago grains analyst. Terry Reilly from Futures International said Friday’s WASDE report had very little effect on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), which […] Read more

NASA to conduct first global water survey from space
Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts
Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more

Environment Canada sees ‘average’ Prairie winter ahead
MarketsFarm — An ‘average’ winter is in the forecast for most of the Canadian Prairies, according to the latest long-range seasonal forecast for December through February from Environment Canada, released Wednesday. The government department is calling for normal temperatures across all the agricultural areas of the three Prairie provinces — aside from the northernmost reaches […] Read more

Feed weekly outlook: Looming corn imports to keep lid on Prairie barley
MarketsFarm — Large shipments of corn from the U.S., slated for delivery to Alberta’s feedlot alley, should keep domestic barley prices under pressure going forward, according to an analyst. “The barley price here will gradually decline,” said Errol Anderson of Pro Market Communications in Calgary, adding that up to 30 unit trains of U.S. corn […] Read more